We all have been drinking coffee for the longest time but it wasn’t until very recently that we stopped to think about the history of coffee. What is it about this beautiful black liquid that makes our mornings brighter and our days livelier? You must have the same question in mind - what is the story of coffee?
The history of coffee dates back to the early ninth century in Ethiopia. According to a parable, it began with a goat herder named Kaldi in Ethiopia. One day Kaldi noticed his goats dancing and acting strangely after eating some red berries from a certain tree. He tried the fruit for himself and was amazed by the stimulating effect of this drink which we now know as coffee.
It wasn't until 650 AD that coffee made its way to Yemen and was cultivated. By the late 14th century, it had spread through Arabia and Persia to Turkey and then to Venice, where it became immensely popular in cafés known as 'café'. Coffee then made its way to France and Vienna, where it became popular, but it never gained popularity in Italy because the Catholic Church condemned it as sinful.
It wasn't until 1710 that coffee first arrived in America. It first became popular in New York and Philadelphia before spreading throughout the country during the 1700s.
If you look at the history of coffee, you see that it took a long time to become popular. It was first introduced into Europe in the 1600s and didn't really take off for a couple hundred years. There was a similar delay between the invention of instant coffee and it becoming a household beverage.
However, with the invention of instant coffee in 1903, coffee became accessible to everyone. Now everyone could drink coffee at home - it wasn’t restricted to the elite sections of society. By this time the United States of America had already bought nearly 70% of the coffee that was available in the world market.
In the early 70s, coffee chains began to emerge and became increasingly popular. It started in the United States, and then spread to Europe and then the rest of the world. Suddenly, coffee went from being a commodity to a way of life for people. They spent their leisure time with cups of coffee in coffee houses and cafés. It became a way to spend time and socialise with friends and family. It was not just espresso drinks that were in demand, but other coffee drinks became increasingly popular as time passed.
Whether it was a pumpkin spiced latte or a caramel macchiato, everyone was drinking coffee and testing variations of the drink.
Coffee is an essential part of the day to day lives of people to the extent that many people claim that they need coffee “to wake up”. More and more people are drinking coffee every day due to its various health benefits and its ability to increase proactivity. For people who want that caffeine kick but don’t want to experience the bitter aftertaste of coffee find that flavoured instant coffee is a godsend for them. There are many flavours of instant coffee that are widely available these days.
Even though the story of coffee may have begun on a plateau in Ethiopia, it spread far and wide and took over the world by storm. It grew in popularity over the years and is now a champion rival to tea, which used to be the most popular drink consumed for centuries. An essential to our daily lives, coffee ranks among the top 5 beverages consumed by people all across the globe.
